Formation 2005 2016 President D. J. Moran, Ph.D | Headquarters United States Website contextualscience.org | |
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Membership approx. 8,300 international members | ||
The Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS) is a worldwide nonprofit professional membership organization associated with acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). The term "contextual behavioral science" refers to the application of functional contextualism to human behavior, including contextual forms of applied behavior analysis, cognitive behavior therapy, and evolution science. In the applied area Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is perhaps the best known wing of contextual behavioral science, and is an emphasis of ACBS, along with other types of contextual CBT, and efforts in education, organizational behavior, and other areas. ACT is considered an empirically validated treatment by the American Psychological Association, with the status of "Modest Research Support" in depression and "Strong Research Support" in chronic pain, with several others specific areas such as psychosis and work site stress currently under review. ACT is also listed as evidence-based by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration of the United States federal government which has examined randomized trials for ACT in the areas of psychosis, work site stress, and obsessive compulsive disorder, including depression outcomes. In the basic area, Relational Frame Theory is a research program in language and cognition that is considered part of contextual behavioral science, and is a focus of ACBS. Unlike the better known behavioral approach proposed by B.F. Skinner in his book Verbal Behavior, experimental RFT research has emerged in a number of areas traditionally thought to be beyond behavioral perspectives, such as grammar, metaphor, perspective taking, implicit cognition and reasoning.
Contents
History
Established in 2005, ACBS has about 8,300 members. Slightly more than one half are outside of the United States. Since its start, ACBS has been rapidly expanding. There are 41 ACBS chapters covering many areas of the world including Italy, Japan, Belgium, Holland, Spain, Australia/New Zealand, the Balkans, France, the United Kingdom and Turkey. Chapters exist in the United States and Canada as well, including the mid-Atlantic, New England, Colorado, Washington, Ontario (CA) and several other areas. There are also 29 Special Interest Groups covering a wide range of basic and applied areas such as children and adolescents, developing nations, veteran's affairs, ACT for the Public, social work, stigma, and many other areas.
Activities
The association's website contains resources such as therapist tools, workshops, and assessment materials, and provides information on recent books on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT).